Bazaarvoice, a company that works on branding and marketing information for clients by tapping social media sites for direct responses, is spending $151.9 million in cash and stock to purchase competitor PowerReviews Inc.

Privately-held PowerReviews focused mostly on the middle-market retailers, though also had several large clients like Gap, Staples and Toys ‘R’ Us. Bazaarvoice’s clients are mostly on the larger companies.

Bazaarvoice went public in February and is up over 60% since then, making it the fifth-best performer among IPOs this year.

Based in Austin, Texas, Bazaarvoice makes software that helps businesses collect and display consumer reviews on their websites, as well as on social websites like Twitter and Facebook.

Bazaarvoice founder and CEO Brett Hurt has previously talked about the power of “online word of mouth” that Bazaarvoice helps spread, utilizing the idea that a recommendation from a friend works as a better advertisement than an actual advertisement. He has said brands and retailers can see exactly what consumers are saying instantaneously, which helps companies specialize sales and marketing pitches like never before.

Bazaarvoice also helps its clients track consumer reviews and trends and determine what they means.

Thursday, Hurt said the deal with PowerReviews will help expand Bazaarvoice’s client base, which would create a bigger pool to gather data and trends from.

“This is an incredibly strategic acquisition for us,” Hurt said. “It gives us a lot more reach into the retail channel and everybody wins.”

Hurt said Bazaarvoice is always looking at expanding and adding clients to its business. It paid for the deal with $31 million in cash and 6.4 million shares.

Meanwhile, Bazaarvoice also delivered preliminary fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $31 million to $31.5 million, up more than 60% from last year, and better than the $28 million analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected.

Bazaarvoice also said it expects to have revenue of $137 million to $139 million for the year-ended April 2013, better than the consensus analysts estimate of $131 million .

Thanks for reading Deal Journal. We would like to direct you to MoneyBeat, the Wall Street Journal’s brand new global blog. MoneyBeat unites MarketBeat, The Source, Overheard and all the Deal Journal blogs, bringing together all the market, M&A, IPO and hedge-fund news from those blogs into a 24-hour hub for finance news. Check it out and let us know what you think at moneyblog@wsj.com.

About Deal Journal

Deal Journal is an up-to-the-minute take on the deals and deal makers that shape the landscape of Wall Street, including mergers and acquisitions, capital-raising, private equity and bankruptcy. In short, wherever money changes hands. Deal Journal is updated throughout each trading day with exclusive commentary, analysis, data, news flashes and profiles. The Wall Street Journal’s David Benoit is the lead writer, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Send news items, comments and questions to deals@wsj.com.